Everybody's Changing
by Akiko Fujishima
Summary: It was okay really, to love and never tell. At the end, who had to cheer up and comfort Sora after his date went wrong? Riku. And he wasn't gonna give away his convenient best friend position easily. But things change, don't they Roxas?
1. Riku I

**Riku I— Ch. 1 (& Prologue… Kind of.)**

**SoRiku, of course there'll be some Akuroku.**

**The story takes place in an unknown country, in a nameless sea-side town, during the last weeks of summer vacation.**

**(I hope there aren't too many mistakes.)**

Once upon a time, there had been a family that gathered at least twice a year to enjoy the others prescience and laugh loudly at fresh gossips. During these rare occasions, the air would be tinged by the heart-warming smell of Grandma Sara's home-made cookies and the stance would glow; joy spreading like those cookies across the table. After the fulfilling communication between brothers and sister who hadn't seen each other and their mother for too long, Grandma Sara would sit on her rocking chair and tell stories about Grandpa who at that moment was, in her grandchild's young mind, the biggest hero of all times. Later on, when most of the adults had gone to sleep, Riku tugged Sara's dress. This was the landmark that preceded all of their poker matches. Rejoiced in being the only grandchild so far, Riku knowingly let himself be spoiled and stuffed with candies while revealing all his nine-year-old intellect to his overly proud Grandmother (at is point, Sara's newfound forces would drag her to the kitchen to bake a lemon pie against her old bones' complaints) between hands until his eyes closed on their own accord… Waking up next to Grandma with lemon pie aftertaste held a special charm that would make him weep each time they had to leave Sara's country house.

The last time this had happened had been eight years ago, before his little cousin Frida (Freiya—Fiona or whatever) was born and crashed his glowing vacation happiness using her shrill and amazingly dog-scaring, high-pitched screams. Then, Yusuke came and he was followed by the demon-possessed twins, Mia and Lia (the awful name's rhyme couldn't be more lame and imaginative-less).

Every new family member bit off painfully a part of his happiness and slowly, it –that'd become more of a idealized fantasy with the years- had lost the welcoming cookies smell of yesterday, the glow had faded away and the charm was dead. But what Riku resented the most as cookies, lemon pies and brownies turned into legends in his own mind, was watching Sara withering alarmingly fast, her spirit muffled by the passing of the years.

When Riku looked back, trying to ignore the sound of Sara's hesitant walking stick, he blamed it all to his cousins. He'd figured out long ago how unfair all of this was; those tiny monsters running around free, disturbing his memories and breaking at least five invaluable Grandpa's treasures per visit and his uncles excusing them dumbly (because they were just children, let them be Riku!—and this was enough justification for Yusuke pouring motor oil over an old Camera from 62'). He was sure Sara's decadence had been provoked by selfish, evil-doing dwarfs—or cousins, as he was forced to call them.

So at his almost seventeen years (and bearing with serious existential issues proper of teenagers) the melancholy, Mia's seventh rant over an ice-cream and the grey scenery, diminished easily his will to exist and he considered banging his head against his book three times at least.

That was how Riku arrived five hours later to Sora's house, his spirit sweeping the floor (Bright side: the street was metaphorically cleaner). He wouldn't have gone but it was a life or death thing—and he never could say no to Sora pleading at the other end of the line.

Sora, the kid with cute and deep blue eyes, the annoy-able, easy going attitude and the summer-like smile; his in front of neighbor for fifteen years, his best friend for eleven years, the object of his desire for five and lately the love of his life.

Stupid as it might sound, Riku hadn't accepted himself as gay because it was just Sora; Sora nuzzling at his side, Sora unveiling the ups and downs of his turbulent crush on Kairi, Sora snoring softly propped on his shoulder after the last midnight show. Just Sora and no one else.

When Riku knocked the door -since the bell had succumbed and consequently passed on two years ago with Sora's promises to fix it- and butterflies started fluttering in his stomach once more (Sora-related stuff tended to have that effect on him), his mood rose from the hypothetic mental floor because being able to be with Sora right now was the cure to his sore soul.

He still was affected by children screeches, however he managed somehow to smile at Sora's mom—and she deserved it anyways, for breeding such a magnificent son.

With a slight smirk and with butterflies flapping relentlessly, Riku rushed upstairs and opened the second door to the left only to find Sora sitting in the middle of a messy jumble of clothes sprawled in the carpet.

"Dude, your room was struck by a hurricane or what?" At the noise, blue eyes darted to Riku's face. It looked like he was analyzing and thinking why he was standing there. Riku used that time to get inside and brush some white locks from his eyes that were bothering him.

Without a proper warning, Riku was pinned against the wall and before he could catch up with that, Sora was giving away all his stress by means of shaking Riku by the shoulders.

"Fuck, Riku! It's terrible!" he gave one last desperate shake to poor dizzy Riku and clenched his shoulders "It's happened and now I'm doomed!"

"Okay, just—ouch, stop that and calm down" the grip loosened but his tanned hands remained there in case their user had another panic attack. Riku lowered his gaze to sad blue eyes in anguish, and then squeezed reassuringly the place where shoulder and neck joined "What happened?" his voice was edging the 'just friends' protocol and his daring trace of Sora's soft neck bashed it in. Guilt showed in, since he was highly aware that Sora wouldn't take notice of this and that he was practically taking advantage of him.

"I asked Kairi out."

Riku never had liked Kairi and considering recent discoveries of Sora being the love of his life and such, he'd justifiably began to hate her, so it must be noted and admired how his heavy disgust didn't crawl to his face and instead, he just rose his brows pretending to be surprised and not hating himself and Kairi.

"Like, finally?" Riku shrugged as an excuse to look away. Even if he kept under control all his facial movements, Sora had an amazingly annoying ability to read him; eye contact was his means for it and it was scarily accurate.

"And she said _yes_!" his hands let go of Riku just a moment to emphasize said experienced trauma.

"I still don't see the problem here" Riku's head tilted a bit and he made a huge effort to understand his pain. How this simple event, one that Sora had craved for, meant total devastation escaped him, though.

"How can you _not_ see it?" the tight grip was safely around his shoulders.

This was considered by Riku when choosing his next words because he didn't want to trigger another panic attack and that last jerk had bumped his head against the wall and it hurt. "Well, let me guess… You're afraid of rejection, aren't you?" he smirked softly at Sora's attentive eyes.

Wrong tone; he just had enough time to move away from the hard beige wall (and closer to Sora) before another frenzy lapsus tried to separate his head from the rest of his body.

After Sora regained some confidence (somewhat) and Riku convinced him for then tenth time that everything was going to be okay and no, he wasn't going to blow up tomorrow in any way, they sat side by side over the lump that was Sora's bed—the latter's hands securely resting over his lap, for Riku's tranquility.

Some minutes later, Sora threw at Riku all his questions in behalf of success—because Riku was one year older and that should mean he had some kind of experience with this dating business.

"So, what I'm I supposed to wear?" Sora's head leaned back and to the left to peer properly at Riku's rejoiced (and almost laughing) expression.

"Well, I guess something that's not too flashy but noticeably out of the usual" he nodded in sarcastic agreement with what he'd just said.

"To make a casual but good impression, right?" there was a weird sound next to Sora and, when he peered to his side once more, he identified said annoying sound as Riku snorting.

Riku, on his defense, just couldn't believe how seriously was this kid taking it—and this was Kairi what they were talking about. Same old and known smart-ass Kairi who hanged with them since Riku's middle school freshman year—such a long time and it sucked (for Riku).

After all and Riku taking pity on his sad existence, they picked up and outfit that was so perfect that Sora was amazed he hadn't come up with that before. Of course, the older boy had some good perception skills and secretly chose the second best combination—well, the fifth or so…whatever. The point was in Sora's eyes it still was amazingly perfect and now he could trust fully on Riku's foggy experience he claimed to own.

Despite this and all the years they knew each other, when Sora had to move on to more—_practical _inquiries, his hands clenched whatever was under his palms (his jeans) and he licked his lips a bit. He could anticipate his accusatory off-key voice breaking.

"Okay. I take her to some place nice. I know that but—"

"But what?"

"What if she wants to kiss…" Sora pulled the hem of his shirt because his off-key voice had positively broken there—he frowned at Riku's continuous snicker "or something?"

"I dunno. I suppose that'll be a good sign…"

Sora examined the taller body incline back and Riku's long arms bend behind his worry-less head; but Sora didn't pout because it bothered him that his best friends was oblivious and mostly apathetic to his pain.

"The face she pulls _after_ could be a good sing. I need to make sure it is." Slowly but safe, he was moving to the question that was forcing his fingers to wrinkle merciless his hemps.

"Yeah, I suppo—"

"Kiss me." He lowered his voice a couple of decibels "Please?"

Behind irreverent white locks, aquamarine eyes looking wide behind them—and time decided to freeze enough for Riku to notice his parted lips silently wanted to reproduce his astonishment. Sora considered his words, considered that both of them were teenagers (and their tendency to misunderstand) and the implication a statement like that was bound to bring; all that together and altering his features with adorable frowns and pouts.

Riku considered the same things and the overwhelmed butterflies fluttered like there was no tomorrow and the icy words of negativity couldn't keep them on hold for much. However, it couldn't be. It couldn't be _that_, could it? But maybe--

"It's just to know what I'm facing!" Sora raised his palms and stared at Riku's tee "It's nothing weird!"

Nope, it wasn't.

It should be noted once more how the quick recovery of his negativity killed the butterflies (in his mind, it was a dense green cloud of insecticide). This didn't disturb his perfectly controlled expression. Even though his face felt a bit strained, he forced his mouth to smile. It seemed as Sora hadn't perceived the quiver of his upper lip and Riku was so grateful for that.

"Thank God, you scared me for a second." he had to close his eyes, though. It was easy to be a hypocrite this way "So—you haven't kissed anyone yet?"

"Yes, I have! Okay? Plenty of times!" Sora's voice faltered at Riku's skeptic brow "Well, not that many times…" now it was his mouth tilting upwards and that judging raised brow! "Fine, only one time!" after hearing it, Sora watched him smirk satisfied and the boy wondered, pushed by hurt pride, if maybe it had been a bad idea to ask Riku; fuck his damn experience. "Whatever—the point is I can't really remember my fricking first and _only_ kiss and I want this one to be perfect—or at least good enough to earn a second date."

Riku saw the desperate glint in his eyes and opted for stop teasing the poor kid; he'd relied completely on Riku and although he loathed the girl in question, he'd always been and still was defenseless against that pleading tone, too warm and close to him.

xxXXxx

"You approach a ninety percent…" Sora's piercing and resolute stare absorbing his explanation looked good on him "If she wants, she'll cover the other ten."

Sora hummed thoughtfully to his socks.

If Sora said he'd gotten than phrase from a romantic movie, Riku would totally deny it until the Earth started spinning backwards. Because he hadn't. Seriously! No—it wasn't from a romantic movie. That and he had stopped watching Universal's Monthly-Chick-Flick during gray Thursday's Nights long ago (Last week and it'd been 'Hitch')

Sora hummed more, index tapping his chin.

He loved Sora, but when his lips parted, Riku was plotting something to keep this thing he didn't do as a secret. It involved Yakuzas, a sack and a thrilling round of the Russian roulette—it could be a fine shallow, billion-earning action movie.

"I get the concept but—" Sora explained. Riku should've been relieved, but he was too busy making up a Theme Song for the thriller. Then, he focused more on Sora and his brown hair, a gravity-defying beauty.

"Hm?"

"Kiss me!"

Riku had been dozing off a bit, but that definitely woke him up and—did this butterflies never fucking die?!

"WHAT?! No!"

"Aww—why not?" Sora's hand tugged demandingly his shirt, pass the arm and close to his neck. The movement made the kid swing forward and back; moving forward and back created an air current and the air current draw the scent of coconut and Sora.

"Because—I…" it was a bizarre situation, because his inner voice told him to give in (and maybe Sora would hug him) and enjoy. But his godamned conscience was aware of how discontented he would be later. Nevertheless, Sora had his winning ace and leaned closer, pulling his 'You know I'm fricking cute and you can't resist my sad kitten eyes' face "I—ar…"

After Riku didn't fully recovered from that low blow –however, Sora was unaware of his mighty persuasion abilities- and felt most of his senses a bit numb, his walls stumbled down and the war was over. Winner: Pretty and tempting Sora.

xxXXxx

Riku tried, really tried to remember what could possibly had happened that he was striding towards such a complicated, compromising and dangerous situation to start with; He considered it was a bit too alarming how confident Sora looked and so eager to learn. The musing time of considering this a bad idea and such was long over, though.

"So," the sound of the 'o' stretched while his body twisted to face his student "we'll make a small dramatization first, okay?" Sora agreed and Riku's eyes were forced to blink in perplexity. "Eh—there're many circumstances that could be considered as a prelude to kissing, like the common warm uncomfortable silence. But keep in mind never, _ever_ ask her 'Can I kiss you?'."

"I can't…" his skeptic, insecure tone was accompanied by a silent 'why?'.

"Many girls don't like this. I don't know if she is part of the group that labels this as a romanticism killer…but why take the risk?"

Sora's mouth went round, nodded --and bowed a bit-- at his master's great wisdom.

"We'll act that prelude. I'll be you and you'll be Kairi." Riku cleared his throat, directed a meaningful stare at Sora, smirking.

(**Flirt Mode:** ON)

"You having a good time?" the slow whisper vibrated towards Sora's direction, denoting confidence and the kid didn't have any chance against it; Sora restrained himself from looking too amazed and 'Wow, he's taking it very seriously—so cool!' like, Riku _could_ tell. A tiny, faint shade of pink tinted his face and it was just too cute—Riku was the one restraining now.

"Uh—yeah!" Sora faked a girly voice which didn't resembled Kairi's at all—that was enough to love it. He shot a small giggle, nasal and a bit retarded. Just like Kairi's. Riku felt his lips tense because the laughter was coming; Sora hunched a bit and a wide grin crossed his face. Then looked away because if he saw Riku, he'll be bending over -and in consequence, rolling on the floor- laughing his ass off. "Eve—" soft unintended chuckle "—everything was perfect and so pretty. This date is like totally the bestest one I've ever had!"

"That's not like Kairi, it's like Naminè" the pause button was pressed and momentarily the dramatization froze. As a result, Sora was himself, Riku was Riku and very close to the other, suddenly feeling the heat irradiated from the other's body; foreheads getting nearer and on the verge of touching. The kid murmured something approaching to 'Yeah, I know' and Riku flinched and almost died when the brush of his breath made it more real.

However, Riku kept the acting up because, really, he'd to be a little professional here.

"Really? I didn't notice because I'm sittin' by the most beautiful…" Riku stopped and reconsidered his words "_person_ in the world". He played idly with Sora's hair, right on his nape. Their foreheads touched and Riku enjoyed the sweet, sweet joy of sharing the same air as Sora, feeling his breath even closer and his eyes closing, subtly stroking his cheeks. It was time for the 90% distance thing and he tilted his head to get the right angle and he couldn't believe this was fricking happening—his conscience could burn and die in hell for all he cared.

"Stop." The command was irrevocable. It made Riku jolt back, the 'Uncaring thought' hiding cowardly in a nook of his mind—Conscience took this chance to come back from hell and bite him, helped by his friend Fear…but please, _please_, that he hadn't noticed.

(**Flirt Mode:** Off and exiled for a while)

"I think I should be me and you Kairi"

Riku examined Sora and how serious he looked, kind of pissed. Because did he seriously intended making him the girl? That ruined the natural equilibrium of it, the perfect synchrony of the universe. Plus, he was taller.

After Riku pointed this and another reasons out, Sora classified him as Paranoid and after Sora recollected a blunt amount of pillows and sat on top of the pile, they resumed the prelude (Riku crossed his arms defiantly over his chest and Sora beamed, assuming the role of a romance novel hero).

Sora babbled --eyes absent, probably picturing a different situation-- some corny and lame flattering comment about beauty "—nd you're the most amazing girl" the word 'girl' should be highlighted "in the world. You're beautiful, smart and funny…" oh god, _please_ not the trite speech of 'beautiful, smart and funny'. Sharply, intense blue eyes, much like the ocean and glowing with determination, landed on Riku. "…and I really like you." Too sultry words, in Riku's opinion, who was busy being dazzled and overwhelmed by sudden warmth to care anymore.

Riku didn't need to remember he was interpreting the girl. He stood still and quiet as Sora showed his intention of kissing him and he panicked—it was really going to happen. So, Riku waited patiently for Sora to shift over the pillow-pile, rest a hand on his shoulder for balance and move his ninety percent. Riku wasn't sure of what was happening, but moved his ten percent.

Sora posed a light peck, then another, seizing up the area and the reactions he received from different movements. Slid his right hand to Riku's nape, elbow a bit past the resting place, inclining his head to the side and he pressed harder. Their mouths where barely open, but the solid teeth contact tickled. Jaws gave in and lips parted for Riku's content—and he desperately had been waiting for this.

Sora's tongue moved shyly, in an experimental way, slowly gaining more confidence. At this point, Riku judged as fitting sliding a hand under Sora's shirt and trace his skin, most probably getting out of his character (Kairi). In the end, he placed it at Sora's side, squeezed the fabric when Sora made a particularly nice move with his tongue.

The kid started backing and Riku mused if it'll be pushing it to bite slightly his lip—nah. He was teaching him, after all. Sora yelped; Riku kept his eyes shut but he could sense Sora's bright, cherry-red blush.

He opened his eyes; Sora was a blurry tanned and panting stain—until he adjusted to the light yet again. Huh, there was that welcoming heated, blushed face. Riku smirked and Sora punched his arm.

xxXXxx

He knew it would happen. He knew—and it did.

Now he was probably taking that whor—er, girl to somewhere apart and sweet-talk in her ear. And he was here moping.

Riku rested or tensed sprawled on the carpeted floor of his room. iHome's volume at max. He was here, feeling frustrated, anger flowing inside of him. Anger against everything: at Sora, for liking Kairi and incorporate her to their perfect duo; at Kairi, for existing and being terrible irresistible for Sora; at himself for being a pitiful fucking coward.

All the energy concentrated tingled, wanting to be unleashed; his body wanted to move and do something. However, self-pity prevented any of this and fixed Riku's eyes at the white roof, lips mouthing the lyrics and limbs abnormally immobile. Because of that (and a previous half an hour round trip on his bike to the mall, carrying Sora the outward journey), he ended up confined in his room –it wasn't absolutely shut; his mother had removed the security lock-, feeling dramatic and moping around. It wasn't as bad as it sounded. He had a donut with strawberry icing and a tropical mix smoothie.

He let the time pass, the sunlight move downwards and a bit to the side, getting orange. He figured that with a bit of luck (_bad _luck) Kairi should be enjoying the marvel of making out with Sora by now and he couldn't blame her, it was Sora they were talking about; absolutely adorable, lovable and sunny-smile Sora.

Knowing him, he'd most surely planned a day-long date so his best friend's promise of a phone report to Riku with the good news would be fulfilled at least somewhere around 8 pm.

His digital desk clock alarm read 6:13. This was his Summer Torture.

The sound of Sora's ringtone on the background (Best Friend –Toy Box. So lame… Kairi'd picked it and Sora just followed her. Evil bit—er, girl) triggered an invisible spring that shot him up. He rummaged through the suspicious heap of stuff near his closet. Two minutes ago, his mobile had landed on it, turning Chipie (yes, it had a name; Kairi's courtesy and Sora-supported, yet again) inevitably into a lost child/technological device.

The song was in the middle of 'You should get a best friend too' when Riku found it.

"Hello? Sora?"

"Riku…"

"What's up? How was it?" pretending support was something annoyingly easy lately "I bet she's all yours now…"

"Eh—" he deflated against the speaker "Not really…"

"It couldn't have been so bad…" Riku felt guilty, extremely guilty because Sora had news but they were most surely no good at all, as he had expected and he couldn't deny most of the time he was moping, he'd wished for it.

"Riku, she not only rejected me" Sora's voice pitch would gradually rise when frustrated, but he kept it low and even. Riku turned off the iHome to understand his soft gloom-emitting whisper "but she threw me the 'It's not you it's me' speech…"

"That sucks man" Riku leaned back, feeling not as sad as he should be. It wasn't like he _enjoyed_ it; he just found it amazingly relieving.

"Then she retreated and told me than in fact, it wasn't her but me."

"Ouch"

"Yeah, I know. Can you believe that?" there was some rustling at the other end and the sound of chewing. Sora had picked a bag of chips "Of course, she told me she wanted to be _friends_. Really, those two things exclude mutually" Riku uttered 'huh?'. The impatient huff made a weird buzzing noise "Being friends and that she rejected me…"

"So you didn't need the kissing lessons after all"

"…no"

"Sora…" Riku heard the tight lump in the kid's throat and imagined Sora's eyes lowering to the gray kitchen's floor, the frown not directed at anything in particular "want some company?"

There was a long pause, then a deep pained sigh "Please."

xxXXxx

When he saw Sora again, he noticed his outfit was perfect and that his skin still smelled slightly like soap. His hair looked soft and shinny, after suffering Sora's monthly hair wash and Riku suspected he'd used the apple-cherry shampoo.

But something was wrong in the way his lips were tensed, paled by the action and in the way his brows drew together. His gaze wandered from Riku's sneakers and his own to random irregularities on his carpet.

Of course, Riku hadn't expected much more than a small laconic and insensitive –but quite comforting— met to men chat. They sat on the floor side by side first and the situation seemed to be moving that way, there the two teens propped on the bed, no eye contact and the accepted distance between them.

But when Sora bended into a ball and his head leaned on Riku's shoulder he thought '…whatever' and put his arm around his shoulder, both very silent and Riku not really considering a thing or not thinking at all and liking the warmth of Sora near. The butterflies eventually ceased while Sora finally collapsed.

If Sora cried or not was a well-kept secret and Riku never told anyone because he was tied by the best friends rules which aren't written but everyone knows.

After an hour, or a bit less, they began a small talk about Philosophy, Aristotle and Kant. It leaded to important moral subjects and the questioning of one's own beliefs. However, if it brought a cheerful Sora full of energy, he could bear to see his values being shatter by subjectivity, Riku figured.

Things were rather fine and Sora looked stable again. Riku started laughing at some of the date-bloopers when the sound of rug crunching under footsteps interrupted them.

"Sweetie? Oh, hi Riku" it was Sora's mom. They could only see the upper part of her body and the telephone that she clutched against herself. The hand covering the speaker indicated that she was having a conversation with someone "Can I talk to you for a second? It won't take long…" she added, more to Sora's behalf than Riku's presence.

Sora hesitated and glanced at Riku while getting up. Then, he proceeded to move slowly out. Riku obediently sat and waited. It was just him or Sora's mom looked kind of…concerned?

Fifteen minutes later, when Riku was too bored to stay in the same position, Sora came in. Riku couldn't quite get a glimpse of his face until he was fully motionless and next to him.

Sora was scowling.

"What happened?" it felt like it was the twentieth time he asked that.

"Roxas is moving back." Riku could only see Sora's blue eyes fixed down and one side of his pursed lips "He's gonna live with us again."

_Oh._ That couldn't be good.

**I don't **_**hate**_** Kairi… much.**

**Happy New Year**

**From: **Akiko Fujishima


	2. Roxas I

**Roxas I— Ch. 2**

**Warning: **This is Yaoi.**  
**

**The story takes place in an unknown country, in a nameless sea-side town, during the last weeks of summer vacation.**

'_This text'_** (cursive) goes for Roxas' memories messing up his consciousness.**

**(Keep in mind my English isn't the best. :3)**

**ooOOoo**

He remembered it. Maybe too clearly.

He was twelve and two months old. Parents: just divorced.

And he was old enough to choose with which parent he wanted to stay. Of course, _Sora_ (smaller brother, eleven and inveterate momma's boy) heard the lawyer words and jumped to his mother's lap—not that he had an option, but…

The woman in the gray suit quirked an eyebrow and placed her uninvolved gaze over him. Roxas felt a huge weight over his shoulders. He gaped and panicked because making a kid choose between his parents was just cruel.

He glanced to his right; Sora nuzzled, face pressed against his mother's small being and dress. He glanced to his left and his dad's broken frown since his beloved soccer star had rejected him without hesitation and it became too much to bare.

What else could he do, really? Sora would live with his mother anyways.

She was a resentful person (his mom); it was in her nature, even if she wanted to deny it. That was the reason their marriage fell to pieces, Roxas figured. He didn't even need to look to know that during that instant when he spoke, while the lady wrote it down to make it legal and through the whole thing, she hated him. He could sense her evil vibes. Roxas still loved her with regret but his dad was a bit happy and it was worth it.

That was how the Odyssey that was living alone with his father began. The man was a nice guy, but he was—to put it in a few words: 'If he hadn't his head stuck to his body, he would forget it', yeah, that was the best way to describe him.

xxXXxx

Awesome. Just fucking awesome.

Why the heck they had to make out in the living room which was in the way to his room? But after whining and complaining to his father, he remembered that stupid and love-struck grin plastered on his dad face when he first met Daisy.

But it had been two years since then and he was getting tired of talking out loud and whistling to avoid jumping into unwanted old people's displays of affection.

He simply cleared his throat and Daisy pushed his dad back. That had been a week ago and although he'd groaned in exasperation and claimed to his TV he was tired, he was still willing to keep whistling, if that made his dad never look like his depressed post-divorce self. It had scared Roxas and he wasn't fond of the idea of being a father-orphan. But that happened more than four years ago…

The situation had changed, though. He was aware of it at the moment his dad patted his shoulder –Daisy was in a corner—and told him, "We need to talk".

Then, he found out they'd get married the next fall. Daisy was on the verge of hyperventilation and his dad had joy-tears and right there, he knew for sure they were happier than in their entire lives and that there was nothing he could do to stop it and frankly, he didn't want to either. Things twisted a lot more when they admitted they wanted children; three, to be specific.

'Yay!' to half-siblings—uh, just no.

He felt someone was playing 'The Odd One Out' with him. Roxas was tempted to circle Daisy's name… But at the end he circled himself and it felt so compromising and determinant, even if it was all happening on his head.

This way, his awesome almost five-years long epic adventure came to an abrupt end that summer.

Roxas called his father to his room. Twenty minutes later, he was dialing the obvious option—his mom's number.

xxXXxx

"Eh—Olette? Can I tell you something?"

Roxas still wasn't sure why he'd picked Olette to be the first one to know he was moving back to the sea-side boring little town from the super awesome capital. But his first guess was because she was the one he trusted the most. Crap, Hayner would be so pissed.

"Roxas?"

And yeah, after that dysfunctional and noxious relationship with her –somehow, they lasted two weeks together; totally unexpected— in which they drove each other insane and Roxas met Olette's **dark **side, they had a clean, absolving break-up. From then on, their bonds as friends tightened a lot.

"I'm moving out… Back with my mom because my dad wants to marry Daisy and they want to have a bunch of babies… And I don't want to mess with their time together, you know?"

However, Roxas never expected what happened next. He'd figured she would cry a bit or try to kiss him if she was feeling a bit _unstable_ (P.M.S.) that day. But, come on! Just grinning calmly and say,

"Oh," (Insert stupid giggle here) "just like Bella from Twilight! She moved with Charlie when her mother wanted to travel with her boyfr—" and she rambled on.

Utterly disappointing.

(Later Roxas discovered Charlie was Bella's father…)

Hayner's was a lot better. He held back his sobs, gave more than a reassuring pat in the shoulder –-and Pence saved him from his bone-crashing hug.

Two days later, he had all his things packed, feeling sweaty from carrying all his technological devices (PS2, PS3, Wii, Nintendo 64, TV and Laptop –all earned by hard work and some begging) around. His friends arrived just when he'd finished the tough work.

"You finished stuffing your things in the car?"

"Just did. How convenient that you showed _after_ I finished, right Hayner?"

Dumb Hayner shrugged and diverted his eyes. Pence and Olette smiled fondly. They'd sure miss Hayner's pseudo-loyalty to Roxas, his acid replies and their weird interaction as a group.

Hayner muttered in forced casualty near Roxas "Your couch will feel lonely without you around, Roxas." referring to his piece of furniture in the usual spot.

"Heh—I'll miss you too, fool."

He was about to leave, for real, in order to embrace his new fate that included a resentful mother and a little brother who grew nourished with said antipathy. He was a martyr, according to Pence.

Already in the co-pilot seat, last minute regret overwhelmed his soul. He thought about his dad's happiness and his chance of a better life… The car was started.

He thought about his friends and stupid Hayner; he'd become too accustomed of their ambiguous friendship and Hayner's indirect shows of appreciation… The car started moving.

Hayner chased after it for a good 100 meters. He frowned.

NO! Focus, Roxas! His dad and Daisy, his dad and Daisy having a good life, a **better** life. Olette and Pence had vanished and Hayner was a tiny panting dot in the distance.

Roxas inhaled softly and bit his lip.

xxXXxx

Glancing back and forth between his dad and his former home, Roxas moved unsteady. But the fact that there was _no one_ around helped him a bit. Hopefully his mom had forgotten he'd arrive this Tuesday.

He got off the car, silently. His dad seemed to be glad of the lack of people at the moment and helped him get all his (useless) technological devices and XXI-century's essential stuff off the trunk.

They were almost done and so close to get over this, clean and without awkward reencounters with relatives… Sora hadn't seen dad since 2006 Christmas's eve and mom had deleted any proof of the man's existence 1 day and 3 hours (when she stopped crying, according to the rumors) after… her _disgraceful doom_ or divorce, what suits best.

Finally, all down and messily piled besides the car. He shared an equally tired glance with his dad. His back hurt like hell. He needed a massage, like now. Where was Hayner when needed, he wondered.

"Roxa—as!"

"Holy Sh— eh… Hey, Sora!" he said to acknowledge the lump attached to his back. Well, now he didn't have to worry about someone cracking his back. "Thanks for tackling me that was just what I needed. But it wasn't strong enough to give me a heart attack"

"Five minutes here and you're already acting like a jerk?" the blue eyed limpet got off him, his summer-like smile still in place, unbeatable.

While Roxas mused about how he'd started to hate summer for some reason, Sora approached their dad and hugged him in a proper way.

He grabbed carefully his adored 'technological crap' and in the way, he caught a glimpse of white hair and what could possibly be Riku.

"'Sup, Roxas? Finally decided to come back."

"Only forced." They shared a manly shake of hands "I hate god damned seaside towns…"

"Tch, same old beach-hater Roxas…" Riku smirked and got out of his sight, maybe to help him carry things in, maybe to stand next to the pile, talk to his dad and avoid work at all costs.

However, the fun part of family reunions had yet to come and when said 'fun part', with all its—rather _her_ glory and 5'1" tall magnificence blocked his path, he halted immediately moved by a surviving instinct.

Roxas frowned at how pathetically startled he looked. "...Hi, mom" there was an unsettling glint of resentment in her eyes.

Without any warning, the woman made an attempt to hollow out his chest, the deadly weapon: her face aided by a paralyzing motherly hug, being sufficiently soft and gentle to provoke guilt just as the thought of shifting in her arms.

Even though Roxas would've done almost anything to prevent awkward parent's reunion, he was still under the hug's effects and had 25 pounds of plastic, wires and circuits in his hands. When he turned to stop her, it was already too late.

"Hi, it's nice to see you again…" she said. His dad's pathetic/startled expression gave Roxas an idea of how his looked like—it was somewhat funny. "I saw the pictures, she's really pretty…"

"Um, thanks"

"She's a really brave woman. Most people wouldn't **dare** to go out with an outfit that would make you look like a hook—"

"MOM!" Roxas to the rescue. He jumped in just in time. "Something is burning in the kitchen, **go**. Dad, it's so sad you have to leave so soon!" he pushed the man inside the car before he completed the phrase himself "Call me when you get there!"

He didn't breathe until the car was gone. He dedicated a harsh stare to his mom…

"Since when being honest is wrong, dear son?"

… and a long, heavy sigh.

"I signed you up in Sora's school. We'll buy your uniform tomorrow" Then, she left as she hadn't crushed Roxas Summer-happiness.

xxXXxx

After one hour, with Sora's help and without Riku's –he sat nearby, sipping his Orange Crush- he held between his arms what would be the last boxes he needed to bring inside; just one more and he could enjoy a Crush too.

The problem was he forgot about the annoying Maltese, their new pet, that Sora liked to call Flare (_what?!_) and had the tendency to make people trip. He truly regretted that last box on top of the heap.

The little toy-dog stared evilly (it was half-maltese half-demon and no he wasn't over-reacting as some unfaithful brothers might suggest) as he made a girly squeaky sound and fell backwards, already feeling the boxes and floor making a Roxas-sandwich.

And to complete the comedy, he was saved of disaster by some manly guy, because those hands could only belong to a guy. His masculinity received a low blow.

"Are you okay?"

"Um, yeah." he didn't intend to blush and shielded his face with boxes. "Thanks…uh, who are you?"

He took one second to examine the punk-delinquent mixture, topped with flaming red hair standing there, canon smirk placed in his lips.

"Aw, c'mon Roxas! You really don't remember me?"

Roxas would never forget someone that _extravagant _even if he could. What a stupid question! He kept this to himself, of course.

"I'm Axel! We used to play when we were like seven… I think you were six. That's not the point. We played knights or something and we forced Riku to be the princess—No? Nothing?"

"Nope, sor—"

"What's up ginger?" Sora passed by, followed by Riku, beach towel in hand.

"Hey, it's not _ginger_, okay? The name's Axel, got it memorized?... don't you dare to _ignore _me, sophomore! I know where you live!" Axel turned in order to hollow more threats. Sora's giggle was muffled by the salty wind.

…

(-Memory Time-)

'_It was getting near noon and after enjoying the first ice cream of the day, they felt full of sugary energy and ready to play something._

"_Let's play knights!" someone said, maybe Sora. Yeah, he was there, and Riku too._

"_Wait! We need a damsel in distress" Roxas had said that with a concerned pout because it was serious."Like the one in that movie…"_

"_Riku is perfect! He has long hair. He's gonna be Princess Riku" there were four people… but it was too faint to be sure._

"_What, no fucking way!" that one had been Riku. Who else?_

"_You said the __**f word**__! I'm telling your mom!" that person. He was taller and childish but a sly grin tugged up the corner of his lips. Riku diverted his eyes defeated "Good. From now on you'll be Princess Riku, got it memorized?"_

_Roxas laughed. Axel was amazing.'_

(-End-)

Axel.

"Axel!"

"What?"

"I remember you!"

"Finally." He smirked again. Roxas blinked at something that wasn't quite clear yet.

"What happened with your hair and why do you have tattoos?" Roxas asked suddenly. He noticed Axel's threatening height and regretted it by the millisecond.

But Axel chuckled and the tattoos moved upwards. "Long story."

xxXXxx

**End of Summer Break. First day of school.**

Roxas was ready to accept his fate and go to…

(He added a dramatic soap opera sound)

…To St. Lauren Catholic School. The uniform was so ugly it burnt his eyes and he'd heard so many frightening stories about catholic educational system from Hayner that he stood like at least five minutes in the entrance.

But this was the school Sora went to, a school for middle class and mildly rich kids. It was also the best high school in a 300 km ratio.

Roxas had prepared himself for the ordeal of being the new student, the glares, the whispers every time he walked in hallway and all that stuff. Given that most of the people in his grade avoided him -and he wasn't being paranoid- he threw himself to Riku, literally and during the first recess due to supreme loneliness.

Riku was a Physics Fan and a Math geek… and undoubtedly a smug straight-A student. The only reason why he hadn't skipped a year was because of this immature attitude of his that forced him to sing obnoxiously during each and every math class. He said it was because everything was so _easy_ that it bored him—lucky bastard.

However, this meant he had a lot of time to spare, time that he dedicated to Roxas. That was how he got to meet Riku and oh, he made Roxas laugh too much.

He'd never seen before something that special in Riku that deserved Sora's devotion. He had been so blind!

At that moment, their religion teacher that hated him by now, scowled as he fell of his chair for the second and last time, grabbing his stomach, chuckling, during that class. Sitting next to Riku was too much for him and that thing _did_ look like a dead rat, anyway.

Roxas giggled soundlessly at Riku's side while accepting that this year religion class would mean to be frequently thrown out of class and suppress his laughter standing outside the classroom.

xxXXxx

He didn't do it on purpose, really. It was just that—it called him. Yeah, that was it. It called him and said: "Roxas, it's me or Biology boringness…" and that was why he skipped biology and went to see the Theater Festival. According to him, this made a lot of sense, but he was having a hard time making Riku (biology partner) realize this.

"Dude, you left me alone with half the work done! You're lucky the teacher felt **sorry** for me and gave me 15 minutes to finish it!"

"Yeah, whatever. I'm sorry, man. By the way, Sacred Hearts' play was hilarious… it had a box and—"

"_Roxas_" Riku's tone was menacing and promised something more painful. "How **could** you?"

"Hey, I already said I was sorry." Roxas backed slowly, both palms up and ready shield him in case of needed "Let it go. It's healthy…_Don'thitme_!" his arm covered protectively his face.

"…that was pathetic" Riku raised his infamous disapproving brow "What I mean is how could you skip biology and **not** invite me?"

Roxas felt his brain freeze and slowly come back to function and then, he processed Riku's words while leaving his defensive stance. Oh.

"… Hey, wanna skip Religion?"

And that was how they ended together in the roof of the art building, having a casual and random chat. Eventually, Riku took something out of his pocket. Roxas paid no attention and continued his anecdote, until he heard a suspicious noise of rock against metal and the sound of a faint spark.

Roxas felt his face change under his surprise. So, Mr. Straight A's was a smoker, huh?

"Don't tell Sora, he'll kill me." A couple of sparks later, the tip of the cigarette was lit up and Riku exhaled a cloud of swirling smoke "You want one?"

"Nah, I have vices of my own that I need to finance. I can't take the risk to grow attached to it and need to buy a pack every two days"

"Your thing for video games, huh?" Riku rested his arm on his bended knee making the smoke twirl with the movement. "Anyway, I'm not _that_ bad. This is my third one this week."

"Dude, it's Monday."

"Shut up!" Roxas could sense the frown and grinned teasingly "I can quit whenever I want!"

(Snort) "Yeah, right!"

At this Riku snapped and Roxas supposed he was about to tackle him to make him take that back. The door to the roof cracked rather loudly, though; their math teacher, standing at the door.

The irresponsible boys knew there wasn't an easy way to explain what they were doing there, skipping class and smoking. Well, the smoking part was just Riku but try to explain that to a furious and impatient sub-director.

"I won't say anything if you don't say anything either" Right there, the guilty teenager acknowledged with an '_Oh_' the Cuban cigar in the equally guilty educator. "Have you got a lighter?"

"Um, sure" Riku passed the lighter, still distrustful.

Roxas pursed his lips, to refrain a laugh. Who would've though Catholic school would be this fun?

He cracked up in the end, though.

xxXXxx

…Yeah, Riku was an amazing guy. He really was and he'd made his awkward situation less of a nightmare.

In less than two weeks they were already kind of like friends and spent most of their afternoons together doing something such as delaying study time, break records in SSBB or make alien voices with Roxas' electric fan.

Today was different, though. Roxas noticed unwillingly that all this quality time between him and Riku affected Sora, making him feel a bit abandoned. Finally, being the sensitive big brother he had always been, Roxas decided to step out of Sora's way.

That day was unexpectedly hot, even for this goddamned seaside town and Roxas sensed that Sora was in a bad mood today… Kairi-related issue, again. He didn't even wait for the jealousy glint to appear in Sora's eyes and excused himself, because he had a math test tomorrow and he knew nothing (100% true), leaving both of them alone for a while.

Roxas struggled with inequations and maddening functions for two hours. He went into the kitchen for his snack-break and heard the friendly conversation those two were still having.

He leaned slightly to take a quick look... and Sora was beaming. Roxas had a warm sensation inside. Riku seemed to be strongly absorbed in Sora's comment to move. Riku was wearing a dumb smile and his eyes shimmered. Sora glanced to his left, at Riku—

And there was something unsettling in the way Riku maintained their eye contact and in the way his goofy grin widened.

Roxas gasped, not that he wanted but he had _seen_ something hidden in Riku's eyes, smile and the way he brushed a strand of hair off of Sora's face.

And it was unholy, like thinking of your parents having sex, that kind of unholy, and deeply disturbing.

**ooOOoo**

_**Yes**_**, I've read twilight… Not ever again. (I don't discriminate people who like it, please don't misunderstand!)**

**Time explanation (Roxas):**

**-12 years: **parents get divorced

**-12 to mid 14: **depressed father

**-15: **Dad met Daisy & Started dating.

**-Almost 17: **Engaged Father and moving out plans.

**I hope this was useful. Needless to say Sora's one year younger, Riku has the same age and Axel's one older, right?**

**From: **Akiko Fujishima

_**P.S: I'm kind of looking for a Beta Reader who would fix my mistakes and prevent that I write more that needed, like what I'm doing right now... Of anyone's interested, please send me a message!! I'll give you a pretty drawing in exchange--? Okay, I'll shut up now x3.**_


	3. Sora I

**Sora I— Ch. 3**

**Warning: **This is Yaoi.

**Said nameless sea-side town is not loyal to any culture and is strongly influenced by my country's idea of a mixture between USA, Japan and my school life.**

**(Keep in mind my English isn't the best. :3)**

**ooOOoo**

Roxas.

That Tuesday Sora discovered that watching a stranger that looked extremely like you gave people a funny feeling. He was about ten meters and a whole second floor away from him and the funny feeling bothered to fly all the way up there and make him shift in discomfort.

He leered; then decided it wasn't worth to stare at, so he glanced at him—at the end, he stared nonetheless.

(sigh) Roxas.

The only things he could remember about him were that he had a victim-complex since the universe was against him, apparently. He was dramatic and a dedicated introvert and he would do anything to deny that something was wrong with him. He used to watch Pokemon every Saturday, maybe he liked watermelons and he was a video games addict. Oh...and he loathed Sora's very existence. But it wasn't _Sora's _fault they were the same size.

It turned out to be a rather long list but that was the 12 year old -mixed with faints memories of the 14 and 15 year old- Roxas. He believed that brothers should know more than that about each other so, according to this, Roxas wouldn't be his brother, but he didn't want to be that extreme and he couldn't win against Birth Certificates. Those were legal.

His body plummeted and fell on his bed. His eyes, fixed in the roof were empty. Riku had told him, a long time ago -during one of those conversations you had with your friends when you felt incredibly honest and sleepy because it was 4:46 am- that no matter what, Sora always found the way to smile and that it was fucking indestructible. Then, he had laughed, his ego a few inches bigger. It didn't feel that plausible now.

Subtle and muffled sounds; pad over carpet; a wet nose and something licking his hand.

Sora used the minimal energy to lift his eyelids to acknowledge his pet's presence.

Flare seemed to scrutinize him. The dog had that all-knowing expression—yet maybe it was just the bliss of really knowing nothing. After some minutes of a stare fight, master v/s dog, he decided that it was hopeless and that he would never know. Perhaps if someone invented a mind-reading machine for dogs—Riku was some sort of a Physics prodigy, maybe he could built one… Okay, that was stupid.

Sora heard some odd rustling. There was something prickling his cheek. Everything was a little blurred, but a white fuzzy blob was most definitely next to him.

"Flare," he rolled, "get off the b—" there was a nose poking his forehead, a human nose. "What the FUCK?! RIKU!!" Sora had to admit it had been unexpected "What the hell is **wrong** with you?!" Poor Sora jumped to his feet so fast he tripped and failed at not blushing. He rubbed hard where Riku's nose brushed him, it tingled.

"Oh, jeez. After all I went through to come here unnoticed. I had to be like a ninja, under the scorching sun, you know? And that's fucking hard, dude."

Sora tugged his shirt and half grinned. Usually Riku said stuff that made no sense and Sora usually stared oddly until he felt weird and stopped. The Devastation he had suffered because of Kairi had mutated him, though and he was grinning.

"It's finally back; your smile." Riku seemed to be in this flirty mood today. He stared, came close and brushed some strands off Sora's eyes. Not that Sora minded, he was just joking around. "It doesn't look right if you're pouting in distress!"

Riku was such a drama-queen and he had the corniest phrases. Sora gave in a laughed. Mayb—hold on.

"How do you know _that_?" Sora tried that skeptic brow trick Riku always used on everybody. It didn't work but he got the same effect.

"Er—I sat on the tree by your window for about five minutes?"

"Eww, Riku! You creep!"

He got hold of whatever was on hand (a pillow) and threw it at Riku, then took another one, aiming at his head because watching a pillow slap Riku's face was always comfortingly funny.

"Hey, I came all the way here, turned myself into a ninja so Roxas wouldn't see me, hummed 'Mission impossible' theme while doing that, climbed this fucking tree that has no business being that tall and sticky only to comfort you and be a good BFF to get treated like shit?" Another cushion came flying to his nose; that fake offended face of his was calling for it, according to Sora "Okay, are you **done** with your 'throwing stuff at Riku because it makes me laugh' urges?"

"Not really—but I ran out of munitions."

"… I won't grant you the pleasure of seeing me sigh." Riku looked up in a moment of abstraction and shoved his un-cut fringe off his face "Whatever. I almost forgot the objective of my mission because of your evil assault—I think you should go down and see him."

"Who?" Riku rolled his eyes and—he was not raising that brow on him! "What? Roxas? Hell, no!"

"I can't force you," the movement of Riku shrugging made some bangs fall back over his eyes "But, dude, if you don't open the door he's capable of standing next to it for _hours _and you know he will."

"Yeah—" Sora felt some hair brushing his hand and let that lick his hand (and **now** he was sure that was a dog) "He would go that overboard"

He felt his nose scrunching at that and Riku trying to hold his laugh behind white bangs.

xxXXxx

The last day before school and all those plastic bags still were spread in the floor because their mom was out and the two of them had developed this tendency to procrastinate in their early teens.

The heavy silence felt moist during summer. Sora heard Roxas shoving cans that obviously didn't fit there in the cupboard.

"Roxas, do you want some watermelon?"

"…Nah—I kinda hate watery taste."

"…" Sora felt a bit empty "Okay."

xxXXxx

**The Akwardest Moment of my Life—by Sora:**

Arriving ten minutes later than usual (all the credit went to _Roxas_' stupid habit of spending 30 minutes on his hair, bathroom's door shut), uniform already sweaty and the most depressing building (School) coming into sight after three beautiful months.

With all this happening and some other tiny bad-day incidents, he completely forgot about her… He totally forgot about Kairi. But it was okay, since Sora remembered it all just when the bell rang and there was nowhere to escape.

Sora thought he hadn't had enough time to recover from that before the sight of Cherry ChapStick, dark red hair and blue eyes knocked the air out of his lungs.

"Nh—Kairi." His voice twitched. He had something stuck in his throat.

"Hi, Sora."

A romantically suggestive whistle coming from the moving crowd filled that tense silence.

Maybe Kairi covered her eyes and moved her head side-ways. Yeah, he couldn't believe too that person's terrible timing.

Sora tried to be something besides the stupefied and blushing idiot, standing there looking hurt and weak. But he couldn't. He moved past her and didn't stop until his limbs weren't numb, the world didn't have this surreal tinge and he could pretend his heart hadn't been broken.

…

And he practically had all his classes with—_her_.

This was by far the worst first day of school of his life.

xxXXxx

Sora asked his mom—well, he didn't actually. The last thing he needed was to get in trouble. But he had _meant _to ask her, and he wanted to know so badly if 'NO' had been the first word Roxas learned to pronounce.

"Please, I _really_ need help with this! I don't get a thing and Riku went to the dentis—"

"Fuck _no_, Sora!" and a slam. That was what he usually got whenever he asked Roxas for something. And if his brother felt creative that day he liked to use phrases that said the word indirectly.

For example:

a. "Sora, are your hands tied to your back? Get the salt yourself"

b. "Buy your own laptop"

c. (unsubtle pained cringe)"It's _cute_ Sora"—when he had asked if he liked his Art homework.

d. "Sora, if you had any intentions to be a singer forget about them _now_ and please stop singing dude, the walls aren't as thick as you think." Okay, this one wasn't exactly and implied 'No', but it was uncalled for and if he had yelled 'Shut the fuck up' it would've hurt less.

This kind of events accumulated frustration on him, his shoulders felt tense and each time it was harder to keep trying. He previously had wanted to be nice, make him feel welcome and all that. He was aware of how Roxas hated this town (because it messed with his hairstyle) and that his relationship with his mother was wounded. He got all that, but Roxas was not even _willing_ to be at least civil.

Anyway, he could be the mature one. He was not going to give him the pleasure to see him—he was not gonna be affected by it.

His decision was wiped to oblivion with one blow, though, as he realized he was monopolizing Riku.

xxXXxx

The phone rang at least five times. That day, Sora was the only one wanting to move and pick up.

Probably Sora would've preferred to stay in his room, idly commenting someone's state on F*cebook if he had known before.

"Hello?"

"Hey, wassup Sora?" it was Riku.

"Not much, besides that my English teacher is a bitch and is making us read the longest and most boring novel ever written!"

"Ha, ha— was it _Miss_ Uribe again?"

"Who else has a mustache, owns a '_passion red_' lipstick and has lived over a century?"

Both of them knew he was exaggerating (excluding the mustache part) but it made both teens laugh. Mocking teachers was always a success.

"Um—before I forget why I was calling… Is Roxas there?"

…what?

"What?" it wasn't like Sora was deaf, but as he scowled to the phone he clung to that small possibility that he might've misunderstood.

"I need to talk to Roxas. We're going to do something today, so…"

Sora felt like he crashed against a wall, and Riku was not helping. Actually, he hit his head against that stupid shelf over the phone, not that someone cared at this critic point.

"Oh—_again_? Whatever, I'll call him…"

This kind of mishaps had happened five times up to date.

xxXXxx

Sora told himself it was okay, it was fine, he didn't care… He kicked that pile of dirty shirts preventing that he got into his room. Then he slammed the, the—that stupid piece of wood (called 'door', as he remembered later on) and while it seemed that the walls were crumbling, he realized something vital.

It was **not **okay.

That selfish excuse of a brother wanted whole Riku's attention fixed on him… Not that he got _everyone_ else's devotion.

His mom found him fuming under his desk five minutes later.

"WHAT?!" he snapped at the door's direction, noticing too late it wasn't the selfish bastard standing there with a frown.

"… Sora!" that tone shouted that certain young man was, oh so screwed "Don't speak to your mother like that!"

The corners of his lips tensed and fell into a strained grimace.

"I'm" he had to chill out; this wasn't his mother's fault. However, if you looked to it in a different angle she had allowed Roxas to come back… He didn't need that right now, dumb and inopportune brain! "sorry, mom. I'm just tired."

"Teenage issues, I get it" Sora felt lucky that his mom was happy enough today to dismiss it with a smile "Can I ask you a favor?"

He nodded silently.

"Can you wash the dishes, please?"

"But that's Roxas job!" and washing dishes didn't suit him at all.

"Yeah, I know but he left five minutes ago…" Sora, calm down; breathe in, breathe out. "I think he went to the movies with Riku"

It wasn't working, this breathing technique.

"But Mom!" faint memories of his disaster-date reminded him of an speechless moment he'd had when he felt his heart breaking—it was amusing (in an ironic way), because at that precise moment, he carved for that incapability "Why do I always have to clean Roxas' mess? Why do you let him do whatever he wants?! Why the f—hell do **I** have to clean the dishes?! And, and does he _have_ to use five dishes to make one hotdog?! Please explain it to me because I don't fucking understand!"

Someone had said that expressing your emotions was healthy. Sora couldn't say if he felt healthier now, but he had this fuzzy sensation and his head felt light. Anyhow, he was doomed. This eerie and sudden stillness could only be described as the calm before the storm.

—guess who was grounded for two weeks.

xxXXxx

…So whatever; Sora was grounded and he couldn't go out, school being the sole exception, much to his disappointment. However, his mother's punishment failed at its annoying purpose. Analyzing this unexpected effect he came to one conclusion: He had no friends to go out with_._

Sora noted mentally this could sound so anti-social, which wasn't the case.

Anyway, Kairi had been scratched profusely –after a misfortunate event- from his friend list so hard that if he _really_ had written a friend list, the paper would have a big rip in the place her name had been.

…and Riku. Probably if that backsta—person knew he was grounded he'd come to visit every now and then… or at least **once** (right?). Well, Riku was currently too busy with some_thing_ to notice he was grounded. Sora had nothing else to add.

To summarize, he had **no one.** And the other guys he knew from school didn't help because they were school friends, meaning people that only wave and ask (because that's what they should do according to society) "What's up?" and Sora would be surprised if they wanted to know.

In the end, even in an alternate dimension where he could be not-grounded, he would be doing the same uselessness he was doing right now: tossing a paper ball into the trash can, pretending it was a basketball to evade any responsible thoughts about school work.

Did he forget to mention the no cell-phone and zero internet and TV restriction?

xxXXxx

Tuesday after school. A scorching heat wave melted the world. 3.57 p.m.

Right then, Sora had one of those moments. Sort of like the groggy 4:46 a.m. ones. But this one came in the middle of the afternoon, mocking Summer-sun up high, and when Riku made him laugh for the ninth time within three minutes.

And the best part, it was a Roxas-less moment. He had a Math test or something. Sora didn't give much thought to the fact that Riku could've helped him if he really knew nothing.

Then Honesty came softly and started growing bigger as he giggled softly.

"You know," the last chuckle, then he fidgeted with his pencil "I really missed this."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you _have_ spent the lasts weeks with Roxas all the time." Sora looked up, examining his friend in that way that Riku didn't like. "I bet you didn't even know I was grounded."

"Sora, I—" Riku frowned with regret, which was the least reaction Sora would expect from him.

"You went to the movies with him—you never take _me _to the movies."

"But you don't li—" Riku was interrupted.

"Don't ever do that to me again." Sora hated that ordering tone of his voice, but this was exactly what he wanted. "I don't wanna be, like, _possessive _but I felt so pathetically alone… It made me realize…" the Honest-moment effect was wavering and his breath hitched, but Sora kept scrutinizing him. "…that life really sucks without you, Riku." The alluded boy licked his lips, giving himself time to process what Sora had confessed. He detected that swift movement of his eyes, because he couldn't stare at anything too much; Riku was never good at dealing with direct declarations.

"…I'm sorry, Sora." After pursing his lips and failing at finding any hint of dishonesty, Sora determined it was sincere and both of them smiled at the same time. "What a lame answer. Anyway— I won't do it again."

Sora though he had heard a muffled sound coming from the general direction of the kitchen's door. "Good. Now, to more relevant matters. What are we gonna do for your birthday? It's getting pretty close—don't tell me you forgot."

xxXXxx

It was a Friday night and Sora inaugurated the evening and Riku's B-day party by totally embarrassing himself.

After kind of tackling Riku and singing the 'Happy Birthday' song against his will as it was tradition, he helped Birthday-Boy to put any frail or potentially break-able stuff –meaning everything in the goddamned first floor- somewhere safe; by that point Sora was clarifying repeatedly to Riku that he wasn't hyperventilating because he was going to party with the _big Junior_ guys.

"—nd I know everything I need to about parties, thank you very much." Sora picked up this ugly painting Riku hated and his mom loved, hiding his face from him. He really believed his pulse rushed because of the demand of energy this activity had. "Hey, I'm going to stay here tonight, like always. I don't feel like walking to my house at 2 a.m."

"It's across the street, Sora. I can't believe our former football star could get like this. It's such a shame—!" Riku smirked teasingly and grabbed a gigantic vase, enjoying Sora's pout. "Sorry, but you'll have to make the _huge_ effort of wasting ten seconds and go to your house."

"I could be abducted by aliens during that, you know?" he whined and frowned at Riku, widening his eyes. "_Please_, let me stay!"

Sora felt somewhat evil tugging Riku's shirt, appealing to his protective side and making sure his eyes looked pleading enough. If those little wrinkles showed something, it was that Sora was winning (one more time).

"I'll leave to my _Grandma's_ country house early tomorrow." Sora ginned at his best friend sad attempt of sounding annoyed.

"…" Sora grinned, propping himself in the painting and then he lifted it to get near Riku. "Don't act like you don't _enjoy_ being Grandma's Spoiled little boy—_Holy CRAP_!"

_THUMP_

Riku turned around, dull expression. Sora blushed and lifted the painting he had used to smash the floor.

"Please don't tell me it was a spider again."

"Uh, okay—it _wasn't_ a spider."

"Scaredy Cat"

Putting that to the side, he waited impatiently as the house began to fill up until it was overcrowded. It was a hell of a party. Sora loved how Riku's whole being -when he went to or threw parties like this- clashed so violently with the superfluous stereotype people tended to put him in.

… Following that, the memories of the night became a _little_ foggy.

Small flashes of moments; he had that bottle in his hand and he felt stupidly happy. At some point, he had come up with this theory that Riku was in fact a girl, because he was too pretty. There'd been some background laughter, Riku glaring and totally defending his masculinity. He wasn't convinced of it even after he lifted Riku's cobalt blue shirt—the fabric was smooth and the color contrasting with Riku's hair hypnotized him, then he forgot what he was doing and moved towards something sparkly.

xxXXxx

So it was Friday night—no, it had been Saturday for at least three hours.

Sora squinted and fidgeted with his keys wandering far too long which one opened the door, since there were only two keys.

He _shouldn't_ have snapped at those juniors calling him a chicken (what were their names—_Wakka_? Tid—what?) and he _shouldn't_ have drank a quarter of that Bayley's.

Thankfully Riku saved him from being totally wasted when he shoved the bottle from his hands.

This reminded Sora of why he wasn't comfortably sleeping at Riku's and was now struggling with keys to open his door.

Some more fighting with the lock and he went straight to his room, passing by a snoring lump inside Roxas's room that was his brother.

Sora's lips tugged lightly up, uncaring and neglecting his principles. Because he just thought that Roxas unexpected attitude was making his life wonderful.

The thing was that, at some point of last week, he had stopped talking to Riku, sudden and indefinitely. Even Riku wasn't sure why, but Sora loved it. He even forgave him for acting like a prick and promoted Roxas back to a 'some**one**'.

He chuckled for no reason, sleepiness winning the battle and he noted how his clothes smelled like Riku—and Irish whisky.

**ooOOoo**

…**Maybe someone wants to cut my head off. I completely understand. I would do it myself but I discovered I need it to write—okay, lame joke. Sorry.**

**It ended up a lot longer that what I thought—I hope it isn't too boring.**

**I still would like to have Beta-reader. :3**

**From: **Akiko Fujishima


End file.
